County leaders stress job growth

Wednesday

Aug 6, 2014 at 7:12 PMAug 6, 2014 at 7:17 PM

Shea Johnson Staff Writer @DP_Shea

VICTORVILLE — San Bernardino County supervisors and CEO Greg Devereaux on Wednesday touched upon a myriad of subjects affecting the county, including a push for technical education, the need for more private sector jobs and the ongoing impact of prison realignment. Devereaux, 1st District Supervisor Robert Lovingood, 2nd District Supervisor Janice Rutherford and 3rd District Supervisor James Ramos were invited to deliver the “State of the County” address to Victor Valley Chamber of Commerce members as part of the chamber’s Valley Morning Insight.Ramos delivered an impassioned speech where he spoke of “retooling education” and bolstering skills of would-be workers.“We have to do a better job of supporting K-12,” Ramos said, citing the roadmap program, Cradle to Career, as an example of progress.Ramos, whose district includes Barstow and Lucerne Valley, also lauded community colleges now offering bachelor’s degrees, while calling for heightened technical training among students to prepare them to work and attract employers to the region.More skilled workers would mean “when businesses want to come into San Bernardino County, they see that labor pool that’s there,” he said.Rutherford prioritized honing in on private sector employment opportunities.“Our state, our region needs more full-time jobs,” she said. “The atmosphere we create and the red tape we cut” helps create private sector jobs.The state’s jobless rate for June was 7.3 percent, while Adelanto (13.2 percent), Apple Valley (9.2 percent), Barstow (10.6 percent), Hesperia (10.9 percent) and Victorville (10.2 percent) fell well above that.Last month, Inland Empire economist John Husing projected that the economy in San Bernardino and Riverside counties was on track to fully recover all the jobs it lost during the Great Recession by September 2015, despite it lagging behind the state’s growth numbers.Meanwhile, Rutherford also said that the state’s prison realignment system has resulted in the hiring of 100 new probation officers in the county to monitor early-release inmates, even as local recidivism rates were lower than the state average.“We have some real challenges to tackle in the public safety realm,” she said.Lovingood, who represents the Victor Valley, praised work by District Attorney Mike Ramos and said that more regional crime sweeps were coming in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Department.Meanwhile, Devereaux vowed not to let “service levels to drop” and said county leaders had put in “hard work” to take care of core responsibilities.“None of that leads to photo opportunities,” he said.He listed asset replacement, a focus on not allowing roads to deteriorate, campaign finance reform and eased restrictions in land-use permits as recent wins.Shea Johnson may be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.